TGS Book Group
The Final Year
This book was on top of the Carnegie box delivered just after lunch today, by the end of school I had finished reading it. Now, despite what many may think, librarians do not spend all their time reading books – how I wish I could – but once I started this book I could not stop reading. The free verse flows, Nate’s voice is a delight to read and his situation so realistic and yet so beautifully painted in words and with simple illustrations, that you just want to know that ‘every little thing is gonna be all right’.
Sometimes, as an adult working with children, we can only see the negatives in a family situation. Here we have a child forced to care for younger siblings because the mother is incapable of doing so. A mother who leaves young children to go to the Bingo and get drunk with a friend. This should not happen, but we know it does and it is hard not to judge. There is no judgement in this book, we see a family who love each other and are there for each other in ways that really matter. Goodfellow takes us on a roller-coaster ride of emotions, I am not surprised that Nate let the ‘Beast’ out towards the end, and yet the calmness of love, rather than the passion of emotion, wins out. A brilliant read which has proved a favourite with my book group.
Mrs B.
All That It Ever Meant
Blessing Musariri paints beautiful pictures with her words of a family coping with grief, making a trip back to their father’s country in order to honour their lost ones. The story is told by Mati, she recounts the story to a mystical character named Meticais, at times choosing to go back to old stories in order to make sense of the new. Meticais listens, prompts and questions the story, but Mati is unsure of their presence – are they there, why can no one else see them? As the story moved along, I guessed the twist, but this didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of the book. Meticais is aptly named but it is not until the end that the name makes you smile.
Mrs B.
Little Bang
Audio Book. I chose to listen to this book on my commute to work and thoroughly enjoyed the choice of narrators – which can so easily make or break an audio book’s enjoyment. The dual narrative is incredibly powerful and adds weight to both sides of the argument; Sid being blamed for getting Mel pregnant and all the ‘bad press’ at the beginning and Mel taking the ‘bad press’ at the end. This is an emotive subject and one not often addressed in young adult fiction in recent years. I could understand all the viewpoints; the teenagers’, Sid’s mother’s, and both Mel’s mother and father’s different, but all loving, emotions regarding the situation. I felt sorry for Mel having to go through the journey to London alone, and was proud of Sid’s support for her at the end. The book showed that we should not judge another’s decision, for this is not an easy decision to make and will be life changing either way. A powerful story and one I would recommend to my older readers.
Mrs B.
The Things We Leave Behind
Audio book. This is a dystopian story, but set in present times, which makes it quite haunting in nature. Clem’s family live in London and find themselves on the wrong side of the new Government’s thinking about freedom of speech and immigration status. As social unrest spreads through the capital, it is no longer a safe place for Clem and her younger sister. Escaping to their grandfather’s country village seems the best course of action, but England is a small country and the Government is everywhere. An interesting political dystopian adventure. I found this book a little disappointing, the beginning was captivating but it rambled towards the end.
Mrs B.
King of Nothing
What a thought provoking, intelligent, humorous and yet at times terribly sad read. It is very easy, having enjoyed a book, to say everyone must read it, but with this book, that is the case. Anton is a troubled soul, trying to be ‘King of the School’ with a reputation to keep. His ‘friends’ see him as a tough guy, son of a prison inmate, ready to put down any one who stands in his way, or disagrees with his opinion, but is this the real Anton? A timely story about toxic-masculinity, the danger of social-influencers and the real meaning of friendship and family. This book never preaches, it simply tells one boy’s story, through his own eyes. Anton realises that being ‘King of the School’ has an expiry date, and being ‘King of Nothing’ can be a lifetime’s sentence. Everyone can change if they really want to, the question is ‘do they want to’? Anton does.
Mrs B.
Play
Play
I found this book really interesting and engaging. I liked how the group of boys in this group were all friends but all very different from one another. I also found it clever how every other chapter was written in the viewpoint of one of the boys in the group because it felt like you were being told multiple stories at once. For the majority of the book you are being told the viewpoints of Luc, Matt and Mark but the fourth friend Johnny doesn't tell his story until the last several chapters. In the last few chapters Johnny is falling from a lamp post he climbed and he was high, as he is falling he imagines what the future will be like for his friends. When he's falling throughout the final pages of the book he sees an upside down pyramid and in each block of the pyramid he sees what the future will lead to for his friends, how it will work out for them and he sees them at his funeral too.
This book isn't the sort of book I would usually read but I found it eye opening and educational.
I give it 5/5 !
Rachel
King of Nothing
I think this book is really good and adventures into the life of the main character and friends and also has a very good moral behind it. 8/10 so far!
Joe
All That It Ever Meant
I personally did not enjoy this book and found it too metaphorical and philosophical for me, sometimes completely confusing and losing me - perhaps too much so for a younger audience as it is very esoteric. However I found the plot and reason for their journey beautiful but I had hoped for some more description of the breathtaking country, yet with the sheer volume of complex philosophy that was left to the imagination, and felt like an after thought, after the relationships and hardships of them. I really liked the characters and found them both individually and together with different personalities and traits interesting yet a perfect example of a broken and healing family. The plot twist at the end had my heart twisted with tears jerking at my eyes and this was honestly the most elegant book out of the Carnegie selection. Overall a mentally questioning book with a beautiful story of healing broken souls - 3/5
Jade
The Things We Leave Behind
I really enjoyed this book. I found that I enjoyed the plot/journey and the idea of a totalitarian government forming and how it was starting to affect the country, along with themes of abandonment and loss. However I felt what really went downhill for this book was that it had too much emotional content for me, that it felt like the plot was an afterthought and that this feature distorted the story which was also not helped by the first person narrative. This made it feel like no one ever really knew what was happening ever in the story and parts of this emotional content bore me a little, so perhaps shortening and focussing more on the journey and characters would improve this books. Billie was a large example of this especially as Clem's emotional state distorted the story to believe her presence and completely confused me, however I can see why this mental instability was a good tactic in the book to create emotional ties to the characters, feeling empathy and love for them despite finding out the bitter truth in the end. This shows the message that not all stories need a standardised 'happy' ending but yet all stories need an end, which is a very deep and philosophical message but an important and virtuous one to interpret and understand. Overall I found this book very intriguing following the beginnings of a dystopian world through an emotionally traumatised girls journey to safety. 4/5 stars
Jade
King of Nothing
I found the book, King of Nothing, to be heart touching and adorable filled with lots of life lessons about finding real friends over reputation and using fear to gain respect introducing important topics like toxic masculinity, abuse in the household, violence and gender equality demonstrating these topics in the characters of Kehinde and of Antons dad, who he built his whole school image on due to his imprisonment. However all anyone really needs in their life is acceptance from friends that you and them enjoy each others company. My favourite character is Matthew because despite all that he was put through with Anton, he remained patient and caring, truly knowing what is needed in a friendship. This is a vital topic area that should be more openly discussed to avoid bad situations, such as women who need a place like St Lukes, in the book, a womens refuge centre. Tackling problems like these shown in the book is imperative to take notice of it in society and speak out against it. Overall this book talks about key issues but I didn't find this books storyline particularly interesting, with little powerful emotional connection to each character therefore I give this book a 3/5 stars.
Jade
Little Bang
I adored this book. I thoroughly loved this book from start to finish. As it follows Mel, a prospective theoretical physicist, and Sid, a future high school dropout with no hope of a good future, set in Northern Ireland. It beautifully tells the struggles of accidental teenage pregnancy and how abortion, a touchy subject at the time in Northern Ireland at the time, is viewed from a personal need and a necessity for a positive future but also from a socially frowned upon and religious viewpoint which I found was a very important topic that I feel needs much more information taught about and this book is a perfect example of ignoring others opinions and finding what is best for your specific circumstance. I found that these radically different individuals with a duel perspective narrative demonstrates how differences of opinion collide and how abortion is such an important topic that needs to be openly discussed and that, as a society should not be shunned away due to uncomfortability but rather needs to be talked about and is vital, especially for young people to understand. Overall, I thought this books is remarkable and holds such a deeper message to its readers not just about abortion but also about finding what is right for you in life and to not adjust what you desire in life and your personal situation to what society says is appropriate, and right - 5/5 stars
Jade
The Final Year
I thought this book, following Nate, a ten year old boy, who is having trouble in year 6 and struggling to contain his emotions around his family situation and pressure, should be targeted towards much younger children. I think the lyrical verse structure would be refreshing to younger readers yet it became dull and unproductive to older readers. Heart-warming characters, specifically Mr Joshua and his patience, Jax and his empathy but I found that this story, as creative a structure and as innocent it is, this book was definitely a primary school book. Despite this the message of sibling love is certainly reflective of its audiences comprehensibility of the story.
Jade
Glasgow Boys
I thoroughly enjoyed the book from the plot to great characters to a phenomenal backstory. I thought that it was incredibly The important theme tackled by the book were themes of trauma, addiction, suicide, anxiety by showing this through differences of experiences, Banjos need for violence due to how he was treated in childhood, and Finlays avoidance to loved ones and keeping them at arms length due to his abandonment experience in his childhood, is very important to acknowledge as a society to help this and cultivate a better understanding of these pressing issues. I found the split perspective really enjoyable and the reflective outcome it has on the reader is absolutely fantastic. My feedback would be that the third person narrative was a bit confusing but overall I really enjoyed the novel - 7/10
Jade
Play
8/10 - I thought the book was amazing with the characters diverse situations but their collective friendship with the main theme having fun and 'playing' together with the world wide shared experience of childhood friendship. Their collective childhood of growing up together was a very important part which I really enjoyed and the drug usage showing ideas of corruption of youth yet all the characters still choose to stay friends ignoring their lives to stay together and continue to have fun right until the end. The ending was indeed bittersweet but I felt that it sent a message to say how important it is to be aware of issues like drug use and county lines but also with personal development and overcoming internalised issues within yourself and despite each others flaws and disputes, remaining together through thick and thin was a vital and very important message sent to readers.
Jade
The Final Year
This book was really good and I loved the bit at the end where he meets his biological dad. Though I found the way he speaks annoying.
noah
The Final Year
I really enjoyed the personal feel of the verse style, also I like how it follows Skellig. This is a good book that is, in some way, relatable to yourself. Unusual, but a good read.
I would rate it an 8 out of 10
Dylan
King of Nothing
Extremely good book I have really enjoyed it so far
Ryan